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I figure I'll post my build log over here on LS1 tech too.
After scheming about building an LS miata for a while I finally am going through with it. Picked up this 95 for a very good price yesterday. It's got a jackson racing supercharger currently which I plan on selling. I'll warn you all now, progress will likely be slow as I collect parts and such.
Here's the plan.
L33 aluminium block 5.3
-mild cam w/ associated valvetrain upgrades(undecided)
-all new gaskets
-v8r Long tube headers
T56 trans
BF swap kit w/ trans mount
8.8 ford IRS rear end
-driveshaft shop 500hp axles
-I'll fab the diff mounts up
-energy susp. poly mounts
basically the unlisted parts are either undecided or not researched yet.
Budget so far
Car & sales of stock parts
-$1500 Car
-$52 Cheap front brakes
-$20 Supercharger belt
+$950 Sold supercharger
+$225 Sold wire wheels
+$500 Sold Differential/axle swap
+$700 Sold engine, trans, ecu, maf
Total= +$803 (Free car)
Subsystems
-$391 Griffin Radiator and Universal mounts
Total= -$391
Engine
-$825 L33 engine from salvage yard
-$200 F body oil pan, dipstick, alt & bracket, & aftermarket dampener
-$222 Rod and main bearings
-$225 Sealed power Hypereutectic flat top pistons
-$45 Dura-Bond Cam bearings
-$110 Total Seal Piston rings
-$210 Block Machine work (Hot tanked, decked .005", and install cam bearings)
-$374 Comp Cams XR281HR Camshaft
-$160 Cloyes Hex-a-just timing chain kit
-$15 Ls2 timing chain dampener
-$80 GM performance oil pump
-$700 Custom LS1 engine harness
-$Trade C5 Vette Harmonic balancer
-$75 C6 Z06 Intake bridge w/ air filter
Total = -$4443
Misc Supplies
-$6 Steel for fusebox bracket
-$20 Steel for radiator mounting
-$20 Misc wiring supplies (shrink wrap, etc)
-$40 POR-15
-$275 Lizard Skin Ceramic & Sound Control coating
Total= -$361
Total so far -$6,693 spent out of pocket
here's the car. and yes, I know the badge is upside down lol
Got the super charger pulled out and sold. I'll get the engine pulled during christmas vacation. I also bought a mig welder, a Forney 130FI I'm certainly going to need it. haha
Got the engine pulled out
got the rest of the kit today.
Got my engine and started tearing it down today. Needless to say, I'm excited!
Stripped it down to short block.
Started getting the heads cleaned up. Haven't started the porting yet but I'm going to do some port work and CC everything to make sure it's all even. They won't see a flow bench but I'm not doing any drastic changes... I think.... lol
here's the f body oil pan before
and here's the after. A good hot parts washer is a great thing
Started investigating the block more to see how in depth I want to go. Bearings look good, it's got the LS2 style timing chain vs the smaller LS1 style. Measured the bores for roundness and they are all ok. No more than .0010 variance anywhere.
Well, so much for budget. LOL
tore it down completely so that I can hot tank the block. And at that point, I've got the bearings out so I might as well put some new ones in. Ordered Clevite H STD size bearings for the rods and mains. The #1 cam bearing shows a good bit of copper so I'm going to replace those as well. Sadly I'll have to take the block to a machine shop for that though.
I also noticed some wear on the piston skirts. I wanted to replace rings no matter what ($80) and new pistons, stock size Sealed Power Hypereutectic, are only $230. That's only a $150 difference so I went ahead and ordered those too. I am going to be keeping the stock rods as they are they gen 4 (ls2) style with a floating wrist pin and are better than the previous gen stuff.
AS of now engine plan is
stock rods &bolts
Sealed power flat top Hypereutectic pistons
Clevite H bearings
New ls6 oil pump
New ls2 timing chain
Cam -- Still undecided
Appropriate springs/pushrods for cam
Morel 5315 lifters
All GM stock gaskets
Improved racing LS1 oil pan baffle
ported 799 heads shaved .010"
here's the cam bearing that showed the wear
Last edited by SupaDupaSteve; 06-02-2015 at 03:23 AM.
Looks good, might have paid a little much for the L33 if you were going to rip it apart, but that all is based off my experience, you might have less options near you. The L33 came with 799 heads, same casting as 243 heads, which can be found on LS6 engines, they were the best flowing head at the time so they don't need much help, just be careful not to go the other way when porting them. Since it looks like your planing on running NA for now, you can find a Z06/LS6 cam and valve springs for a reasonable price until you decided to really dive into it. Also keep in mind that you'll likely not be able to clear the truck intake and accessories, it looks like most guys run Vette or CTS-V accessory drives, but just keep your eyes peeled for something to come up for a good price if you're not in any hurry.
I hadnt originally planned to tear it down fully. And I think 825 was a solid price for an l33 considering their availability. On car-part.com there was only 2 in the state of Florida at the time. And had never been more than 5, all around $1000 or so. I'm well aware of what heads its got lol, I'm not going to go crazy with the porting, probably raise the exhaust roof some and smooth it, and on the intake I'll probably remove the boss for the rocker stud bolt and take down the swirl ramp.
I'm pretty set that I don't want a stock cam though, not really trying to save money there.
And yeah, I've got an f body alt and bracket which I'll mill down 3/4" to line up with my corvette balancer.
Got my pistons and bearings today. The pistons didn't come with rings. Damn. Oh well. Also bought some axles from a member on v8 miata. Lots of parts and pieces. Soon enough stuff will start getting put together instead of taken apart. lol
Got my engine block back from the machine shop today. Had it hot tanked, decked .005", and pressed the new cam bearings in. Piston rings also came in the mail so I'll get the bottom end assembled this week.
I emailed Martin @ tick and he spec'd me this cam.
227/231 .630/.600 111+2
What do you guys think?
Cam should be good in a light miata. Had a very similar cam in a 5.7 1/2 ton pick up with a 5spd was nice once you got on it good. Might have been a little much for my weight but I didn't mind it much.
we're are you reinforcing the mitia? Show good picks when you do it please. I am wa ting to build a miata next myself and I'm interested in what you need to shoe horn one in. I'm hoping to strip the body off and do a excet once I get the v8 ironed out and bank account replenised.
Cam should be good in a light miata. Had a very similar cam in a 5.7 1/2 ton pick up with a 5spd was nice once you got on it good. Might have been a little much for my weight but I didn't mind it much.
we're are you reinforcing the mitia? Show good picks when you do it please. I am wa ting to build a miata next myself and I'm interested in what you need to shoe horn one in. I'm hoping to strip the body off and do a excet once I get the v8 ironed out and bank account replenised.
The swap kit from boss from includes frame rain reinforcement rails (basically subframe connectors) and I'll be doing some seam welding too. A v8 miata certainly isn't a cheap proposition. haha
I emailed Martin @ tick and he spec'd me this cam.
227/231 .630/.600 111+2
What do you guys think?
That cam is an excellent choice. An adjustable timing set & a 2 piece timing cover are your friends. This will allow you to degree the cam & tweek it a bit should you need to. 2 piece cover isn't absolutely necessary, but, removing the crank balancer each time is a PITA.
Got the dash and all the HVAC stuff pulled out today. Need to pull the rest of the interior and then I'll do some seam welding, weld in the reinforcement plates in the bay, and mock up frame rails to drill holes for the bolts and I'll tac weld the bolts in so I can remove and install the rails with one person. also traded my aftermarket F-body ls1 dampener for a stock Vette one.
Headers came in today. Only ordered them thursday night. Talk about fast shipping!
First impressions- Wow these are nice! Really quality pieces. We will see how fitment is when I mock everything up.
I also got my new engine harness today so I started tearing into the factory Miata one to eliminate all the unnecessary stuff. How has everyone else done this part? I'd prefer to keep everything as neat as possible without tearing into the dash stuff too much, but still eliminating pretty much anything I won't need.
Made some good progress on the harness so far. Got all the 1.8 stuff removed and started identifying where I need to splice in the ls1 harness. Also, ordered some supplies from mcmaster carr. Doing this harness the RIGHT way.
Quick question going back to the shorblock. So you had the machine shop hone the bores out 5 thou and hoping the pistons drop right in? Or did you measure them one by one and had the bores sized accordingly?
Quick question going back to the shorblock. So you had the machine shop hone the bores out 5 thou and hoping the pistons drop right in? Or did you measure them one by one and had the bores sized accordingly?
No, I just had them deck it .005". I measured the bores before hand and they are all ok to use stock sized pistons from what I've gathered. I gave the cylinders a quick hone that didn't change the bore enough for me to be able to measure it.. Is it the absolute perfect way? No, but I feel like it will be ok. Anyone else think differently? It's not too late to get oversized pistons and have it bored but I'd really rather not as I've got rings and pistons already and can't return either.
Got the frame rail reinforcements welded in and the interior stripped the rest of the way this weekend.
That gold pain, is CopperCoat, a weld through primer. It prevents rust/corrosion between metals while being conductive and able to be welded through.
I really wish the bracket on the drivers side extended further and had a recess for the stud that is there for the pedal box. Oh well.
been making some progress over the last week.
finished up my relocation brackets for the fuse box and isolated the battery-> starter cable. removed the alt and other wires that were in that harness as to allow me to relocate the fuse box inside. stock routing has the alt power wire going to one side of the main fuse and the other is lead that is spliced in with the starter terminal. Now obviously these won't work with my new fuse box location and the LS layout. I had some 8GA wires made specifically for those new leads. They will match my nice new engine harness too. Still undecided what I'm going to do for a speedometer. I want to retrofit an NB cluster but can't find much info other than that the connectors are different and wires need to be "changed." I don't really want to use an aftermarket digital speedo.
And now comes the nasty part. The RUST!
I originally didn't realize how bad this rust was. I guess I'm learning rust repair now. If anyone has any tips, tricks, ideas etc, feel free to share. I've done some small floor pan rust repair before but never anything of this magnitude.
Got most of it cut out. Need to get the dremel and clean up the tight areas, then treat with ospho and slather some por15 inside there. I'll use the weld thru primer too
01-21-2015, 06:52 PM
L33 5.3 Miata Mx-5 build 
